


That Seeks You Out and Names You

by Poetry



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 5 Things, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Character Study, Drabble Sequence, First Kiss, M/M, Names, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 18:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5466110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetry/pseuds/Poetry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Finn learned about names.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Seeks You Out and Names You

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Szuka cię i wzywa po imieniu](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6166585) by [euphoria814](https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphoria814/pseuds/euphoria814)



> Warning for hints at the horrors of a stormtrooper childhood. Title is my translation from the chorus of the classic tango _Volver_ :
>
>> “How fevered the gaze,  
> wandering in the shadows,  
> that seeks you out and names you.”

**1.**   
  
When FN2187 is nine, he and his year-mates get to meet their commanding officers for the first time: Lieutenant Hux, Lieutenant Phasma, and others.  
  
After, FN2187 raises his hand and asks his instructor, “Why are their designations so strange? They don’t even have numbers.”  
  
“Your officers don’t have designations,” Instructor QF1792 says. “They have _names_.”  
  
Later, during drill, FN2187 forgets and calls Phasma, “Lieutenant P, fourth rank.”  
  
QF1792 electroshocks him. “She has a name, FN2187, not just a rank. _Lieutenant Phasma_. Don’t forget it.”  
  
That’s when FN2187 first learns that names have power. They are something he can never have.  
  
 **2.**   
  
Finn stares at the requisition form for quarters and new clothes. One perk of being a stormtrooper: he never had to fill out a form. Everything was handed to him. The only field he’s filled is _Name_. “Surname?” he says. “What’s that?”  
  
“Organa is my surname,” the General says. “Solo was Han’s. Your surname is your family. Where you come from.”  
  
“I don’t know where I come from,” Finn says. “I don’t have a family.”  
  
The General sighs. Her eyes are old and sad. “Then leave it blank for now. You can fill it in when you find a family.”  
  
  
 **3.**  
  
“What’s your real name?” Finn asks Chewbacca.  
  
The Wookiee snorts sarcastically.  
  
“You can’t say Chewbacca. And I don’t want to call you the wrong name. So what is it?”  
  
The long groan Finn gets is not something he’s going to be able to pronounce. But he tries. Chewie laughs at him.  
  
“If I may interrupt,” C-3PO says. “That wasn’t his name. He was telling you he has more than one. ‘Chewbacca’ is just as much his name as the other.”  
  
Names, surnames, human names, Wookiee names. How do they keep track of them all, when Finn can barely handle one?   
  
**4.**  
  
Then, of course, Finn has to ask. “Hey, C-3PO, do you have a name? Or just your designation?”  
  
The droid tilts its head. “It was intended as a designation at first. But over the course of many years, it has become more than that. Some humans call me ‘Threepio’ affectionately. Now, I do think of it as a name.”  
  
“Huh,” Finn says. “So what made that change?”  
  
“C-3PO originally designated my similarity to other droids of my make,” Threepio says. “Now, ’Threepio’ marks the ways I am different from other droids. It became a name when it made me myself.”  
  
 **5.**   
  
“Poe!” Finn shouts. “Poe!”  
  
He’s being stupid. Poe was in a _crash_ , he’s _hurt_ , and all Finn can say is his name. How is that supposed to help?  
  
Poe’s eyes flutter open. He sits up in his sickbed.  
  
“Don’t move,” Finn says. “You’re injured.”  
  
Poe grabs Finn by the neck. Their mouths crash together. Finn’s seen Republic people do this, this _kissing_ , and now he knows why. It’s efficient communication, like a name. It tells him so _much_.  
  
“Finn,” Poe breathes, and for the first time, the name, and the power that comes with it, feel like they’re really his.


End file.
